Need a fun activity for a sub plan or trivia for bell ringers? All 110 answers are names of countries where Spanish is an official language. Even students who think they are no good at trivia can make an educated guess given the list of countries

Introduce New Year's, Three Kings’ Day (Jan. 6th) and Christmas customs in Hispanic countries. Find out where they eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, roller skate to mass, have a lottery, celebrate “las posadas”, and more. Reading is in

This fast-paced game makes a good back to school or end of year review. Students have just one minute to give oral clues or gestures, hoping their team can guess the six words in a category. Targets verbs, clothing, foods, animals, professions,

This fast-paced game makes a good back to school or end of year review. Students have just one minute to give oral clues or gestures, hoping their team can guess the six words in a category (verbs, clothing, foods, animals, professions, places,

Challenge students to act out 40 sentences in a game of charades. Bailabas la macarena. Te quitabas los zapatos. For a follow-up activity, let them play detective as they try to identify the thieves that robbed a bank, given the following

Need a sub plan or an end of year activity? What’s up with the Running of the Bulls? Students find out through a reading, trivia game, mini-poster and more.
Subjects: Spanish, World Cultures
Time: 50+ minutes
Materials and Activities:
- a 3 page

Need a sub plan or a reading activity? This classic French story by Guy de Maupassant has been revised and simplified for 3rd - 4th year high school French students. The story is about a man who leaves his family in France and goes to America to

"La Prof dit" challenges students to repeat sentences filling in the blank trying to “match” the teacher response. Student have a few seconds to write down an answer. Then, when teacher and all students have written down a word, each student

Use this 100 question trivia game for a sub plan or an end of semester activity. The trivia can also be used for bell ringers. All questions are in English and divided into three categories:
1) Let Them Speak French (French expressions used in

Get them talking and walking with these two surveys! In survey #1, students ask what time their classmates get up/eat lunch on Saturdays. In survey #2, students ask what time their classmates get up/go to bed on Mondays. Students get oral practice

Your students will have fun using Spanish dialog as they try to get sets of four food cards in as many of the eight food categories as possible. Players “listen up” to what other players are asking for because it gives clues as to what food

"La Prof dit" is a fun way to have students repeat grammatically correct sentences filling in the "blank" to try to "match" the teacher response. Students write down a word to fill in the blank, scoring one point if they match your answer. When you

When thoughts turn to summer vacation, use this activity to review the future tense. Students and teacher stand and circulate with their list of questions, trying to find “yes” answers to questions about what students will do this summer, next week

Photographs of authentic French pastries are the icing on the cake here! Students use French dialog as they try to get four food cards (a set ) in each of seven food categories (les légumes, les fruits, les pâtisseries, la viande, les fruits de mer,

Get them walking and talking with this birthday survey! As students do the oral survey, they record information in short form on their survey sheet. Then, teacher asks for oral feedback. Finally, students write up information gathered in complete

La Maestra dice. . . is a fun way to have students repeat grammatically correct sentences filling in the "blank" trying to "match" the teacher. Great for an end of year activity or a review before tests. Teacher puts one sentence at a time on the

Celebrate Mardi Gras/Carnaval with this two page reading in English (key words in French, Spanish and German) which gives students a glimpse of its history and customs in different parts of the world. Decorate your door with a mini-poster and have

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TEACHING EXPERIENCE

My background includes teaching English as a second language K-12 and secondary Spanish and French. During my 20+ years of teaching, I was always looking for fun ways to keep the interest of my students and to make learning stick. Years ago I began creating my own materials and had some of them published by J. Weston Walch and Teacher's Discovery. My husband, Keith, continues to help me by drawing humorous cartoons for many of my projects.
I am now retired from teaching and am devoting some of my time to refining the ideas that worked well for me and posting them here on TpT. A teacher friend told me about TpT. Thanks, Brenda!

MY TEACHING STYLE

I'm a firm believer in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. I focus on using teaching methods that target different ways of learning. The survey activity, for example, targets interpersonal, bodily-kinesthetic and linguistic intelligences. I also love using music and visuals to help students learn. For example, the song "Yakety Yak" is a great tune for practicing the different vowel "a" sounds: . . .Take out the papers and the trash. . .Yakety Yak. . . Don't talk back!"

HONORS/AWARDS/SHINING TEACHER MOMENT

In my 6th year of retirement, I received a note from my former school that students in the top 15% of the senior class were asked to chose their favorite educator from K-12. I was chosen as a favorite educator by a student who came to this country with no English. I was her ESL teacher in 5th and 6th grade. At the dinner I attended, students gave short speeches about their favorite teachers. It was so rewarding to see the progress she had made despite the language barrier.

MY OWN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

BA degree/Spanish & French majors
South Dakota State University,
MA degree/French, Middlebury College (School Abroad Paris, France),
English as a Second Language Licensure Program, Hamline Univ.
Graduate School of Education

ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

My mother also taught English and French. She was not trained as an ESL teacher, but did teach English to Japanese Americans at a Japanese Internment Camp in Colorado during World War II.